Arthur Wollaston Hutton (5 September 1848

Spridlington Spridlington is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately north from the city and county town of Lincoln, and just off the A15 road. According to the 2001 Census the village ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

– 25 March 1912 Blackheath) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

clergyman and author.

Biography

Hutton was born in Spridlington. He was a scholar of

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

. He took orders in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

in 1872, but under

Newman Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people: The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere. A *Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer *Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people *Al Newman (born 1960) ...

's influence became a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, and from 1876-83 was a member of the

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

Oratorian community. He changed his views, however: he married and renounced Roman Catholicism, and became known as an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

and free thinker. For some years Hutton was librarian at the

National Liberal Club The National Liberal Club (NLC) is a London private members' club, open to both men and women. It was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 to provide club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly enlarged electorate f ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, but in 1898 he was readmitted to the English Church, and from 1903 to his death he was rector of

Bow Church Bow Church is the parish church of St Mary and Holy Trinity, Stratford, Bow. It is located on a central reservation site in Bow Road (part of the A11), in Bow, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. There has been a church on the same site ...

, London. His absolute sincerity and great intellectual ability were recognized by all. He was the author of a ''Life of Manning'' (1892). On his deathbed he asked to be received back into the Catholic Church. Hutton was an

anti-vaccinationist Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

and advocated the repeal of compulsory laws relating to it. He authored ''The Vaccination Question'', in 1895. The book was negatively reviewed in ''

The British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...

'' which commented that "this violent polemic against vaccination is not written in a scientific spirit at all: on the contrary, we find here all the old statements used of late years, and refuted over and over again, together with some startling new ones, while the main body of evidence in the favour of vaccination is utterly ignored."

Selected publications

''The Anglican Ministry''
(1879)
''Cardinal Manning''
(1894) *''Life of Manning'' (1892)
''The Vaccination Question''
(1895)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutton, Arthur Wollaston 1848 births 1912 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Anglican priest converts to Roman Catholicism British anti-vaccination activists English biographers English Roman Catholics